Life at Number Twelve
by Prongsie
Summary: A look at Life with the Black Family when Sirius was a young boy. Sirius and Bellatrix are good friends until they start to grow up and have a different view point on life.
1. Chapter 1

Thanks to Arianrhod for Beta-reading.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Gazing out of the window, down at the sunny street below, Bellatrix Black let out a loud sigh. She could see some children playing across the street and she longed to be out there as well. Not playing with them of course, they were Muggles, she just wanted some freedom.  
  
  
  
Turning back to the cold dark family room of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, she flicked her hair back and groaned, as nobody had paid any attention to her sigh. Bellatrix looked over at a boy sitting in the corner of the room. He was swinging on the rear two legs of his chair, staring at the ceiling with a bored expression on his face.  
  
"I wish we could go outside," Bellatrix said to him. The two children were very similar in appearance. Both had black hair and their eyes such a dark brown colour, they too were almost black. Standing, they were almost the same height even though the boy was almost two years younger.  
  
  
  
His gaze lowered from the ceiling and looked at Bellatrix, as the front two chair legs crashed to the floor.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, me too," he replied "I'm sick of being stuck in here. It's like being in Azkaban or something. But you know she won't let us go out there."  
  
  
  
"That doesn't normally stop you, Sirius, " Bellatrix said, a mischievous grin creeping across her face. She knew that her younger cousin had found a way to get out of Number Twelve without being seen, as he had told her so.  
  
  
  
"Bella!" Sirius warned. His eyes darted across to a small boy sitting at the other end of the room, stabbing a quill into the eye of a stuffed hippogriff that belonged to Sirius. He too had black hair, as did most members of the family, although unlike the other two he had deep blue eyes. As the youngest of the Black children, Regulus often felt left out by his brother and cousins. They always called him a baby and they often wouldn't let him play with them. He usually got his own back by telling tales to his parents, getting them all, especially Sirius, in trouble. Sirius knew this, which was why he was trying to get Bellatrix to be quiet.  
  
  
  
The noise from Sirius's chair legs hitting the floor must have been heard downstairs as an older girl came rushing in.  
  
  
  
"What are you two doing?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
  
  
"Nothing." Sirius and Bellatrix replied in unison, giving each other guilty glances.  
  
  
  
"She's going mental down there because of the noise from up here." The older girl continued.  
  
  
  
"We weren't making any noise 'Drom," Sirius replied. "There was only one bang and it was an accident."  
  
  
  
"I know that." Andromeda said, smiling at him warmly. "But try telling your mother, she's the one that's complaining."  
  
  
  
"Well, if we were allowed outside, she wouldn't hear us at all." Bellatrix suggested hopefully.  
  
  
  
"You never give up do you, Bella?" Andromeda laughed at her youngest sister.  
  
  
  
"But we're bored." Sirius whined. "Can't you ask her for us?"  
  
  
  
"Me? You think that'll convince her. She hardly even speaks to me since I didn't get sorted into Slytherin. Not unless she's criticising me or telling me to do something." Andromeda replied.  
  
  
  
The door opened again and in came another girl. She was the only one of the Black children to have blonde hair. She certainly stood out against the other four.  
  
  
  
"She's going out." The girl said quietly, with a smile.  
  
  
  
"Where's Mummy going, Cissa?" Regulus asked quietly from the corner.   
  
  
  
"I don't know," Narcissa replied, a slightly sharp tone to her voice. "I don't care much either. At least we won't have to tip toe round all afternoon. Honestly, it's worse than being at home, being stuck here. Any way, Uncle Alphard's on his way over to watch us."  
  
  
  
"Excellent!" Sirius relied with a smile. Uncle Alphard was probably his favourite adult in the world, almost like his role model.  
  
  
  
Bella glanced at Sirius and grinned. This could well be their chance to escape Number Twelve for a few hours.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
A short time later, the five Black youngsters were still shut away in the family room. Narcissa sat in an armchair by the window, reading a book, while Andromeda was trying to convince Regulus not to pull the arms off of his toy zombie. Sirius and Bella sat in the middle of the floor plotting.  
  
  
  
"Do you think she's gone yet?" Bella asked excitedly.   
  
  
  
"No, I can still hear her talking to Uncle Alphie," Sirius replied. "As soon as she's gone, we'll go and ask him."  
  
  
  
"You should ask," Bella suggested. "You're his favourite. He never says 'no' to you"  
  
  
  
Sirius grinned, as he knew this was true, and nodded in agreement.  
  
  
  
Soon, all went quiet downstairs. Bella and Sirius jumped up and ran down the stairs to the first floor and then straight down to the basement kitchen where they knew he would be.  
  
  
  
"UNCLE ALPHIE!" They both yelled excitedly, as they ran over to hug him. Uncle Alphie smiled at them and laughed. Sirius may have been his favourite but Bellatrix came a close second. He was a mischievous type himself and he saw this in both of the children who were now almost squeezing the life out of him. Uncle Alphie was the brother of both Sirius and Bella's fathers and had the looks to match. He had the same black hair and dark eyes as the two children.  
  
  
  
Sirius climbed up and sat on the edge of the large table. Bella joined him.  
  
  
  
"We were thinking," he began, sounding very grown up for an eight year old. "It's a shame for us to be inside on such a nice day. We should be outside in the sun."  
  
  
  
"But the back yard is too small to do anything like throwing a ball about." Bella added.  
  
  
  
"So could we go out the front and play in the street?" Sirius asked with his best smile, the one he generally reserved for getting his own way.  
  
  
  
Uncle Alphie smiled at them.  
  
  
  
"Go on then," he told them. "Only for a little while mind, and don't tell your parents, otherwise they'll have my head up there with the old house elves."  
  
  
  
Sirius and Bella both laughed before looking at each other for a few seconds and racing out to the hall to find their shoes.  
  
  
  
Regulus was standing out there. He must have followed them down and listened at the door.  
  
  
  
"I suppose you want to come as well." Sirius said, knowing that if they didn't include him he would most definitely tell their mother when she got back. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius flung the front door open and Bella ran down the steps after him. They raced down the street, laughing and giggling, before coming to a halt at a small grassy area in the middle of the small square. The grass was long and various bits of rubbish were strewn in it. Sirius threw himself on the ground, still laughing as he tried to get his breath back.  
  
It was such a good feeling to get out of that house. He hated being stuck in there every day. Often it was just him, Regulus and their mother, their father being out at work. Not that his father was much better company. Relief from his eccentric mother and whiny little brother only came when his cousins visited.  
  
Bella sat down on the grass next to him and gazed up at the bright blue sky for a few minutes before looking around.  
  
"Filthy Muggles," she muttered, as she cast her eyes over an empty crisp packet that was on the ground near her feet. Her gaze lifted as she heard shouting further along the street. Her dark eyes fell on a small group of Muggle children, kicking a football around in the road.  
  
"Come on, Bella said to Sirius, as she grabbed his hand, pulling him up from the floor. "Let's have a walk down that way.  
  
Sirius scrambled up. He hadn't seen Bella looking at the other children as he had been too busy watching a motorbike pull up further down the road. As they reached the Muggle children, Sirius made to go around the area that they were playing in. Bella, however, slowly and purposefully walked straight through the middle of their game.  
  
"Oi! Watch wha'yer doin!" a tall, thuggish looking boy yelled, as Bella walked past him, her head held high in the air.  
  
"Get out the bloody way!" another boy shouted. He was smaller than the first boy but looked just as menacing. Bella turned and glared at him. Sirius also stopped in his tracks. What in Merlin's name was Bella doing? He shot a questioning look over at her, which she ignored as she turned to look at the first boy.  
  
"You don't own this street you know" Bella replied calmly. Sirius quickly walked over to her side"  
  
"Bella! Come on!" He whispered urgently to her, grabbing her wrist, "Just shut up and let's go!"  
  
Sirius looked up as the two boys, along with the rest of the Muggle children, stepped closer, almost forming a circle around them. Sirius had a bad feeling about this. Being surrounded by a group of boys all bigger, older and most probably stronger than him, was not such a good thing.  
  
"Yeah, Bella," The first boy taunted, obviously overhearing what Sirius had said. "Why don't yer jus' shut up an' bugger off!"  
  
"I will go when I am ready," Bella replied haughtily. "I don't take orders from a filthy Mug-"  
  
"BELLA!" Sirius yelled, cutting her of before she could continue, shooting her a warning look.  
  
"What? I was just saying that..."  
  
"I know what you were saying," Sirius hissed back at her. "And you know you shouldn't be saying it. At least not out here, if at all.  
  
"And since when did you become so concerned about these things?" Bella asked him angrily, the Muggle boys put to the back of her mind.  
  
"HEY! What's going on over there?" A man's voice shouted from the doorway of Number Twelve. It was Uncle Alphard and he started to walk over to them. Regulus had followed his brother and cousin outside and had been sitting on the front step watching the events take place. When Bella and Sirius had started yelling at each other, he had run inside to tell his Uncle. His intention had been to get them in trouble rather than to stop them fighting.  
  
Bella and Sirius were still shouting at each other when Uncle Alphard reached them. He pushed through the Muggles, grabbed Bella's arm and the back of Sirius's t-shirt and dragged them both towards the house. The two children continued to scream at each other as they were hauled down the steps into the kitchen.  
  
"I trusted you both to go out and this is what you get up to?" Uncle Alphard wasn't yelling at them like they expected. He just sounded very disappointed which was ten times worse than being shouted at.  
  
"But she started it," Sirius protested.  
  
"I didn't do anything," Bella retorted.  
  
"You were going to call them filthy Muggles,"Sirius said. "I know you were.  
  
"Well they were filthy Muggles."  
  
"You can't say!" Sirius yelled. "Not out there, and it isn't exactly a nice thing to say, is it? They hadn't done anything to you until you walked through their game!"  
  
"Since when were you such a Muggle lover?" Bella asked tauntingly. Sirius glared at her.  
  
"I don't have a problem with Muggles, unlike you," he replied quietly.  
  
"Now Bella," Uncle Alphard said calmly. "Sirius is right. You can't say things like that out in the street, even if that is what you think. And until you're able to understand that, I don't think you should be going out there on your own."  
  
Bella frowned at him and then glared at her cousin. Sirius glared back, as he knew Uncle Alphard wouldn't let him back out on his own. Now he would be stuck inside with Bella in a grouchy mood. 


End file.
